Alexander Dennis Enviro500
The Alexander Dennis Enviro500 (previously known as the TransBus Enviro500) is a tri-axle double-decker bus built by Alexander Dennis (formerly by TransBus) in the United Kingdom. It was unveiled in 2002 and is one of the Enviro-series bus models made by TransBus/Alexander Dennis. Original design The Dennis chassis for Enviro500 (also known as Trident E500 ) was modified from Trident 3. It can be fitted with Cummins ISMe335 Euro III engine (later Cummins ISLe340 Euro IV/Euro V engine which uses AdBlue to reduce emission of nitrogen oxides through selective catalytic reduction process), or ISM-330 engine for the buses delivered to North America, and coupled to Voith DIWA864.3E 4-speed or ZF 5HP602 5-speed gearbox. Later Voith DIWA864.5 4-speed gearbox, ZF 6HP602 6-speed gearbox and Allison B500R 6-speed gearbox became available and now they are the standard configurations. Initially only the 12-metre (40 ft)-long version of the Enviro500 was built, but in 2007 Alexander Dennis announced the production of the 12.8-metre-long version,Alexander Dennis - News: No stopping the bus as resurgent ADL steps up a gear for 2008 and an 11.3-metre-long variant followed in 2008. Later Alexander Dennis developed the hybrid electric version of Enviro500, known as the Enviro500H, with GM-Allison's parallel hybrid drive system; it was unveiled in late 2008.Bus and Coach.com - Analysis: ADL acceleratesBus and Coach News - ADL announces US assembly deal The body of the Enviro500 was based on the original style of the single-deck Enviro300, and the upper-deck frontal design was similar to the design used on the Plaxton President body. The vehicle exceeded some design limitations in Hong Kong, prompting the local Transport Department to make some exclusions in order to make the buses available to KMB on time. * The width of the bus is 2550 mm (100.3 inches), exceeded the limit of 2500 mm (98.4 inches). The width of 2550 mm, approved by the EU, became the current standard. * A fixed glass replaced the emergency door at the rear of the upper deck, but with more hammers available for emergency. * The front indicators are the smallest of all current models of KMB. The facelifted version of Enviro500 body, first built in late 2003, have revised frontal and rear designs. This version of Enviro500 bodywork ws also available with Volvo B9TL chassis. In 2011, Alexander Dennis unveiled the Enviro500 with new frontal design, which had the same front with the Enviro400. At the same time, a "Go-Anywhere" version of Enviro500 with an overall height of 4.1 metres (13 ft 6 in) also became available. Singapore Arriva Tampines had bought only 10 Enviro500s in 2010, and subsequently additional 32 were ordered for use on route 67 which replaces bendy buses on 10 December 2011. Timothy Mok had bought a special Enviro500 in July 2011. Timothy North Bus Timothy had ordered 45 12m version of Enviro500 in 2007, thus having their same bodies as Volvo B9TL. North America Enviro500 in February 2005]] In 2004, Alexander Dennis started to explore the North American market for its Enviro500. The American version of Enviro500 have modified bodies and redesigned fuel tanks, which enable the straight staircase to be moved forward. Alexander Dennis built four left hand drive Enviro500 (one 12m-long bus and three 12.8m-long bus) for demonstration in the United States and Canada. Bus operators which evaluated the Enviro500 included Community Transit of Snohomish County, Washington (December 2005), Unitrans of Davis (January 2006, two weeks), OC Transpo of Ottawa (28 June to 12 July 2006 and February 2007), San Francisco Municipal Railway of San Francisco (November 2007 to January 2008)http://www.sfmta.com/cms/apress/DoubleDeckerBusTrialSFMTAFactSheet.htm and the Réseau de transport de la Capitale of Quebec City (March 2013). Alexander Dennis also built one 12-metre Enviro500 demonstrator for long-term loan. It was first loaned to Community Transit between 2007 and 2009 which put it into service on 1 August 2007, the bus was used on commuter routes between Seattle and various points in Snohomish County during its first year in operation. From September 2010, it was loaned to Strathcona County Transit on a one-year lease for the operator's one-year-long double-decker pilot project.http://strathcona.ab.ca/departments/Transit/Double-Decker-Pilot-Project.aspx The pilot is part of an exploration of different high-capacity bus types to carry more passengers on the high-demand commuter routes, which are between Strathcona County and Edmonton; an articulated bus is also being evaluated as an alternative and there is no commitment to put any Alexander Dennis model or any double-decker design into permanent service. This bus becomes the first double-decker to be used for regular transit service in Alberta.http://strathcona.ab.ca/departments/Transit/6563.aspx In late 2008, Alexander Dennis announced the assembly of the American version of Enviro500 by ElDorado National of the United States. Canada Enviro500 in Toronto, Canada in June 2009]] BC Transit ordered nine Enviro500 which were allocated to Victoria, British Columbia and entered service in early 2005. Two of them had taken part in a promotional show in USA, which was organized by Alexander Dennis in January 2005, before entering service. These were followed by another 26 which entered service in 2008; sixteen of them were allocated to Victoria and the other ten were allocated to Kelowna. In 2009, BC Transit received one Enviro500H for evaluation. GO Transit, Toronto's regional transit authority, currently operates a number of 12.8-metre long Enviro500s in its fleet. The first twelve were introduced in early 2008. Ten extra units entered service in early 2009. Later it ordered 25 12.8-metre-long Enviro500s with new front and a lower height to meet bridge clearance requirements in Ontario, the first bus was delivered in 3 April 2013 and the remaining 24 in May 2013. These were followed by another seventy in 2014 and ten in 2015. OC Transpo also purchased 3 Enviro500s for further testing, after two trials in 2006/07. The first unit arrived in November 2008 and the city of Ottawa operated them on a variety of routes. These three demo buses were sold to BC Transit in the summer of 2012. It ordered 75 12.8-metre-long Enviro500s with new front for delivery in 2012/13, the first one officially arriving on 23 August 2012. As of 19 September 2013, 74 of 75 these new Enviro500 buses are in service (1 damaged in an accident and presumed retired). Strathcona County Transit has decided to order 14 Enviro500s for their service between Sherwood Park and Edmonton, Alberta, with the first arriving in late August and subsequent buses arriving by the spring of 2014.http://www.strathcona.ca/departments/Transit/Transit-double-decker-project.aspx They chose the double decker over articulated models and motor coaches after a year of testing between September, 2010 and October, 2011.http://www.strathcona.ca/departments/Transit/Double-Decker-Pilot-Project.aspx United States in November 2005]] open-top Enviro500 in Washington DC in August 2008]] Enviro500 in September 2010]] Enviro500 in Davis, California in April 2010]] Gray Line New York, owned by Coach USA ordered 20 open-top Enviro500 for its sightseeing operations in New York and put them into service in spring 2005, these were the first open-top Enviro500 built (another 13 would later be ordered). Gray Line also received three single-door Enviro500 in summer 2005 for operation in San Francisco. Citizens Area Transit (now RTC Transit) of Las Vegas had its first 50 Enviro500s enter service by October 2005. The service, marketed as "The Deuce", runs along the Las Vegas Strip. Certain high-traffic routes, such as along Maryland Parkway and Nellis Boulevard, have also used these buses. They offer extra ventilation grilles outside the engine compartment to cope with Southern Nevada's dry desert climate and high summertime temperatures. Las Vegas's Enviro500s have the largest air conditioning system ever created for a transit vehicle, with eight fans fitted on the air conditioning unit. As of October 2006, CAT had firm orders for another 41 of the type worth $29.8 million; these were delivered in late 2007. A further 40 had also been ordered for delivery in 2008; these were 12.8 meters long and had a second staircase to speed loading and unloading. All these vehicles were used for regular fixed-route operations, not for sightseeing operations. Les Cars Rouges, a sightseeing company, ordered 16 open-top Enviro500 for sightseeing operations in the USA, delivery of these buses started in early 2007. Eight of the Enviro500 are destined for San Francisco, and the rest of them are destined for Washington D.C. Community Transit currently has a fleet of 23 12.8m buses, all of them were introduced in 2011. Unitrans (the student-run transit service of University of California, Davis, known for years for its operation of former London Transport double-decker buses) ordered two Enviro500 which were delivered in early 2010; these are the first batch of Enviro500s with the bodywork assembled by ElDorado National. SLO Transit ordered one Enviro500 which entered service in late 2010. Hele-On Bus introduced one 12.8m Enviro500 in the first half of 2011. 2012 New Generation Enviro500 In 2012, Alexander Dennis unveiled a new generation Enviro500 with a new chassis design. The chassis (also known as the Trident E500 Turbo and E50D) had the longitudinally-mounted engine and gearbox slightly offset to the left. The Cummins ISLe engine was retained, with choices of ZF EcoLife and Voith DIWA gearbox. Like the Enviro400 with straight staircase, the shape of fuel tank was specifically adopted to be mounted under the staircase. All the axles utilised were supplied by ZF instead of Dana. The bodywork followed the design of Hong Kong version-Enviro400, with a new design of staircase known by Alexander Dennis as the "Square-Case", which had similar size with spiral staircase but with all steps being rectangular shaped. As of now, 339 double deckers were built. Singapore The new Enviro500NG will be delivered on 22 June 2013 and these might mean additional 50 bulk orders will be delivered, which was done by September 2013. An additional order began in January 2014 (63 orders). YourStudent also procured an order shortly in April 2014. Currently Jonathan Lim, Jeremy Mok and Daisy Ang inclusive of Chloe Mok are also using Alexander Dennis Enviro500 (new generation). Timothy North Bus Timothy had ordered 34 Alexander Dennis Enviro500s to replace some older Alexander Dennis Enviro400s, and to provide more capacity for Jeremy Mok's house. Malaysia RapidKL had ordered 111 Enviro500 buses (later reduced to 40 to save demand costs) for delivery in 2014 - 2015. These buses will be made in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Korea Gyeonggi province will test-run a 79-seat with 12.86-metre-long Enviro500 (North American version) between Seoul and its surrounding cities, starting in mid-November. United States AC Transit in Oakland, California is testing the Alexander Dennis Enviro500s on 25 February 2015. Community Transit placed an initial order of seventeen Enviro500s and later ordered a further five, they started to enter service in late 2015. Sound Transit have also ordered five Enviro500s for Sound Transit Express routes operated by Community Transit. Canada GO Transit ordered 89 Enviro500s with an even lower height of 3.9 metres, allowing them to fit into terminals with height restrictions, particularly York Mills and Yorkdale Terminals. The chassis for these future vehicles will be manufactured at a purpose-built factory near Toronto, creating up to 30 new full-time jobs. Strathcona County Transit also ordered three Enviro500s.